A career Army sergeant from South Texas was listed Tuesday as the 138th
U.S. casualty of the war in
Iraq.

Like 30 other coalition soldiers, 1st Sgt. Joe Jesus Garza, formerly of
Robstown near Corpus Christi,
was the victim of a land accident, officials said.

The Department of Defense said Garza, 43, was killed in Baghdad on Monday
when the Humvee in
which he was riding swerved to avoid collision with a civilian vehicle.
Garza fell out of his vehicle and
was struck by another vehicle operated by an Iraqi civilian, officials
said.

The 3rd Infantry Division soldier was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th
Infantry Regiment out of Fort
Benning, Ga., and resided in nearby Columbus.

Officials at the installation said Garza had been in the Army for 19 years
and had been based at Fort
Benning since July 2000. No other information about Garza, including next
of kin, was disclosed by the
Army.

Thirty-two troops from Britain also have been killed in action, bringing
to 170 the total number of
coalition fatalities.

In addition to the 31 troops killed in land accidents, 94 have been killed
by enemy fire, 28 in helicopter
accidents, nine by friendly fire, two of illness and two in a soldier's
attack on fellow troops at Camp
Pennsylvania, Kuwait. Four deaths were listed as "other."